Letters

I would like to voice the opinion of over 30 people who left the Environmental Review Board/County Commission meeting early as we were being told about fishing communities being established in Rhea County to capitalize on the grass destroying our lake.

The ERB really fumbled the ball Monday night. Getting that many people together again will not happen. The lack of ideas, presentation or an action plan by the ERB was embarrassing.

When asked, “How do we move forward, and who is taking charge?” they sat there showing that they had no clue or plan.

This is in response to Roane County Sheriff Jack Stockton’s ill-considered remark that denying Ralph O’Neal’s petition for clemency is the “greatest thing he’s [Barack Obama] done since he’s been in office for Roane County.”

I’m certain that if Sheriff Stockton applied himself, he could provide readers with other examples of President Obama’s actions and initiatives beneficial to Roane County citizens over the last eight years.

With respect to the recent report on the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) meeting in Knoxville (Roane County News, Jan. 20, page 2A), the SELC is on the cutting edge in raising questions about the disposal of coal ash. The new federal law allows legal action by citizens and the state to compel compliance.

The Republican obsession to completely repeal the ACA (Affordable Care Act) is a terribly bad idea. Any health-care repeal without a suitable replacement plan will put insurance companies back in charge of health coverage causing less coverage and higher costs; and it will create economic chaos in small hospitals because they will have to go back to treating patients in their emergency rooms that will not be able to pay for that treatment. That is NOT a good thing!

Since water weeds are choking the front page of the Roane County News, I’d like to make several points on the matter of vegetation in Watts Bar Lake.

1. While an overgrowth of aquatic plant life is a problem, like all problems, this issue is multi-faceted. Thus, solutions should be evaluated from many perspectives, not just the ones presented by those with the most to gain.